


Trying to Hide

by sparkinglovingheart



Series: Post Civil War Age-Play Fics [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Age Play, Angst, Babysitting, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Mentions of PTSD, Non-Sexual Age Play, Other, Post-Civil War, Separation Anxiety, So much angst, Thumb-sucking, Wetting, pull ups
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-16
Updated: 2016-03-16
Packaged: 2018-05-27 01:58:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,822
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6265180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sparkinglovingheart/pseuds/sparkinglovingheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sharon babysits and finds out that Wanda has a problem she can't ignore any longer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Trying to Hide

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Blackwidowislyfe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blackwidowislyfe/gifts).



> You know what's not a good idea before posting a new work you're super nervous about? Reading a bunch of flame review horror stories.   
> I psyched myself out so much and I'm terrified to post this and I know it's terrible. Like I just want to get that out there.   
> That being said, thank you to blackwidowislyfe for actually pushing me to write it. This goes out to you, dude. :)

Wanda had silky brown hair down to her waist. It had gone unwashed and unkempt for so long when Natasha first met her but now that she had taken care of it, she found that it fell in little curls at the ends. She thought it was one of the prettiest things in the world and brushing it in the morning always relaxed her. She tied two pigtails up with glitter ball ponytail holders that were a shade of ocean blue that matched Wanda’s ruffled little dress Clint’s sister had made for her. After was done, Natasha pressed a kiss to her cheek, “All done, my angel. You look so, so pretty.” 

“Thank you, Mama!” Wanda hugged her, “Play now?”

Natasha bit her lip. She and Steve had both been gone way too much lately trying to pick up the pieces from the war, but at least they were usually able to take individual trips. They’d both be gone today. 

“Mommy, Daddy and Bucky are going with Sam to talk to some people,” she explained, “We’re going to be really busy so Scott is going to come over and babysit you today. You can play with him.” 

Wanda loved Scott, but she still looked completely heartbroken as she looked at Natasha with wide, pleading eyes, “Please don’t go, Mommy! I don’t want you to leave!”

“Shhh, malyutka. It’s just for a few hours. You’ll be okay,” she crooned, “I’ll come back and we can snuggle and play all you want, alright? I need you to be my big girl for a few hours, that’s all. Can you do that?”

She sniffled and snuggled into her arms, “I’m gonna miss you, Mommy.” 

“I’ll miss you too, my sweet baby girl,” she kissed her forehead, “I won’t be gone for long. And you can watch a movie and have naptime, so when you wake up, we’ll be back. Okay?”

“Okay,” she sounded hesitant, but Natasha knew she was trying her hardest to be brave. She tried a little too hard most of the time. 

“Nat,” Steve walked in, looking worried, “Scott’s daughter is in the hospital.” 

“Oh my God,” Natasha frowned, “What happened?”

“She’s fine, they think she just broke her arm when she fell off her bike. But he can’t make it and I don’t know who else to get as a babysitter..” 

Natasha thought for a moment, “Rhodey?”

“Visiting his sister, she just had a baby.” 

“What about Hill?”

“On vacation.”

She groaned, “We could always take her with us.” 

“I’ll go with you!” Wanda said, sitting straight up, “I’ll be good, Daddy! I’ll be so good!”

“Oh, princess, I know,” his face softened, “But I really just don’t think it’s a good idea,” he glanced at Natasha, “I don’t want her to be around R-O-S-S.” 

That was fair enough. Wanda was scared of General Ross, who had emotionally terrorized her to the point of tears the last time they’d met. Natasha had thought Steve was going to punch him. 

“I know!” Steve snapped his fingers, “Sharon!”

She stared at him blankly, “Carter?” 

“Why not? We’re friends, I trust her.”

“But she doesn’t even know.” 

“I can explain it. It would be better than hiring a complete stranger and explaining it to them.” 

“And you think she’ll be okay with it?”

“Of course she will,” he shrugged, “Like I said. I trust her-she’s Peggy and Gabe’s niece and she helped us during the whole fall of Shield thing. That says enough.” 

Natasha looked hesitant, “I trust her too. I just…I hate leaving.” 

“Me too,” he sighed, kneeling so he was at Wanda’s eye level, “But we’ll be back soon, right sweetie?”

“Uh-huh,” she was sucking her thumb and looking up at the ceiling, “Sharon will play too?”

“Let me call her and see,” Steve stood up, “If all else fails, I guess we can bring her with.” 

 

Steve explained Wanda to Sharon about five times before she even vaguely seemed to get it. Then it took another two tries to get her to come over.

“Steve, I don’t know how to take care of an child-adult or whatever she is,” Sharon sighed, “I’d love to help you, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea.” 

“I know it’s a lot to ask,” he rubbed his forehead, “It’s a huge favor, and I’d really owe you. I just don’t have anyone else available at the moment who I trust to watch her.”

“I don’t really know her.” 

“She’s _very_ well behaved. And just the sweetest, most loving little thing in the world. She’s adorableSharon, and you know she might actually get excited to see you. And when she gets excited she has the cutest face-”

“Okay,” she cut him off, “I’ll do it. And I’ll try my best not to burn the house down in the process.” 

He breathed a sigh of relief, “Thank you. We’ll only be gone for a few hours.” 

“Is there anything I…really need to know?” 

“I can explain it to you when you get here. Like I said, she’s very well behaved. She might cry, but if you just hold her and sing to her or something she’ll calm down after awhile.”

“Okay. I’m coming now,” she said, “See you in fifteen minutes.” 

Steve hung up and went back into Wanda’s room. She had a bed there but she really only took naps in it-she got scared by herself at night so she’d sleep with one of them or someone come in and sleep with her. It was a playroom for the most part, which she hadn’t had back at the tower. Right now she was sitting down and arranging a group of Sylvanian Families while one of her Barbie soundtracks played. 

“Honey,” he said, putting a hand on her shoulder, “Sharon is going to look after you for a little while, and I promise that she is very nice.”

“I wanna go with you,” Wanda didn’t look up. 

“I know, baby. I would take you with me, but it’s really just for adults and we might talk about stuff that could scare you. I don’t want you to be scared.” 

That made her look at him worriedly, “Why scary stuff?”

He sighed, “Part of being a grown-up, sweetie. But I don’t want you to think about that. You just go on being the sweet little girl you are, okay? I love you so much.” 

“Love you too, Daddy. You’re the bestest daddy ever, in the whole world,” she said, climbing into his lap, “I’ll be good.” 

“I know you will, angel. You always are. Do you want to read a story real quick?”

“Yes!” her eyes lit up and she jumped to go pick _The Very Hungry Caterpillar_ before running back to him and sitting in his lap again.

Steve kissed the top of her head and opened it, “In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf…” 

Fifteen minutes passed too quickly, and Steve had barely finished reading by the time Natasha came in to tell him Sharon had arrived. Wanda clung to him so he had to pick her up and carry her, stroking her hair, “It’s okay, princess.” 

Sharon was standing by the front door with her hands clasped together tightly. She didn’t look at all fazed when she saw Wanda clinging to Steve, and forced a smile, “Hi, sweetie. I’m Sharon, and I’m going to watch you for a little while.” 

“Can you say hi, baby?” Steve asked her gently, “It’s okay, you’re safe.” 

Wanda peeked up for one moment, waved shyly and hid again. Sharon smiled, “It’s really nice to meet you. I think we’ll have some fun while your parents are gone, right?”

“See, honey? I told you Sharon is very nice,” Steve said soothingly, “Come on, you can go play now.” 

Natasha waited until Wanda was out of earshot before saying, “Okay, so if she starts crying just give her a hug. She likes it when people hold her and read her stories or sing-she _really_ likes singing. You can put on a movie for her or something. She can play by herself, she’s very quiet-”

“Why would she start crying?”

“She doesn’t like it when we’re gone and she’s just kinda emotional anyway. Sometime’s she’ll just cry. I already fed her lunch, but you can give her a snack if she gets hungry again. You have to actually ask her if she’s hungry because she won’t tell you. Sippy cups are in the cupboards up there and you can just give her goldfish or something. And you can put her down for a nap if she gets really fussy.”

“Okay,” Sharon closed her eyes, “Feed her, play with her, put her down for a nap. Anything else?”

“She’s _really_ shy. If she doesn’t say anything, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t like you. If you do things with her, she’ll get more comfortable without you. Call me if something goes wrong.”

“Natasha, relax. We’ll be just fine,” Sharon put a hand on her shoulder. It was bizarre to see the stoic, deadly assassin and strong, practical captain suddenly become the doting, gushy parents of a girl who acted like a toddler. 

Then again, hadn’t she seen stuff much stranger since aliens attacked New York City?

Sharon jumped as she suddenly heard Wanda cry out in the other room and run out after Steve, grabbing onto his hand, “Daddy, don’t go! Please don’t go!”

 

“Angel, I have to,” he looked pained, “It’ll be okay, we’ll be back.” 

“I wanna go with you!”

Sharon ushered him and Natasha out the door, “I’ll take care of her. You guys just go and don’t worry.” 

Steve muttered something while Natasha blew Wanda a kiss, “We love you, baby. See you later.” 

She shut the door before anything else could happen, but Wanda threw herself on the floor and sobbed, pulling her hair and rocking back and forth. Sharon knelt down next to her and wrapped her in a hug, “Shhh. Sweetie, Mommy and Daddy will be back soon, don’t worry.”

“What if they don’t?” she wailed, “What if they go and they never come back and I’m all alone without them forever?”

“Wanda, don’t be silly. That won’t happen,” Sharon sighed, “Come on, don’t cry. You’re a big girl, you can handle this.” 

“I just want my mom!”

Sharon was regretting agreeing to this whole situation already, “Well, she had to leave for a little while, and I’m sorry, but you can’t see her now. Why don’t you go play?”

Wanda didn’t stop crying as she curled up on the floor with her thumb in her mouth. Sharon stroked her hair lightly, “I can’t make them come back right now, hon. I’m sorry that you’re upset.” 

“They’re not ever gonna come back! It’s/ my fault,” she sobbed, “I was bad and they don’t love me. I’m such a bad girl!”

Sharon was losing patience, “Wanda, you’re twenty years old, this is just ridicu-“ she stopped herself before finishing. Maybe she thought this whole thing was weird, but Steve had asked her to do a favor, he had trusted her with someone he obviously adored, and she couldn’t just ignore that.

“Your mommy said you like songs,” she said hesitantly, “Do you have a favorite?”

Wanda peeked up at her, still sniffling, “I like lots. You are my Sunshine.”

“That’s a good one. Who sings it to you?” she asked, trying to steer the conversation in a positive direction.

“Mama and Bucky. They sing the Itsy Bitsy Spider too,” she wiped her eyes, “Daddy sings Hush. But only he sings it. It’s our song.”

Sharon looked confused, “Hush?”

She nodded, “With the mockingbird.” 

“Oh, Hush Little Baby. That’s sweet,” she smiled, “And you like books too, huh?”

“I loooove books,” Wanda said softly, “I can’t read that good. I know ABCs, but I don’t know big words. It’s okay though, because I like to listen. Daddy read me a book about a caterpillar who eats everything and turns into a butterfly. I love butterflies. Did you know that they’re always on flowers because that’s how they get their food?” 

“No, I didn’t. You’re very smart, aren’t you?” In truth, Sharon did know that, but she wanted to keep the girl talking instead of hysterically crying.

“Sam likes them too,” Wanda stared off into the distance when she talked, like she wasn’t really speaking to Sharon at all, “I made him a picture with one on it when he had a hard day. He has hard days sometimes. Because he was in a war.”

Sharon knew Sam pretty well and it had never occurred to her that he might suffer PTSD. Now that she thought about it, it had been ridiculous to assume that he didn’t-he just seemed to have such a happy go lucky attitude all the time.

“War is scary, huh?” she put a hand on her shoulder.

Wanda nodded. She folded her hands in her lap and still didn’t meet Sharon’s eyes, “I know it is.” 

Of course she knew. 

It was only then that Sharon really looked around the living room and let it occur to her that there probably weren’t a whole lot of other people like Wanda out there-not people who were physically adults and mentally children. And even if there were, who out of them would be able to play with a girl who had ridiculously powerful telekinesis on top of a mountain of other things they still didn’t understand? 

“Do you have anyone to play with ever?” she asked, “Like a friend?” 

“My mom and dad,” Wanda said absentmindedly, “Sam and Bucky and-”

“No,” Sharon cut her off, “I mean, like…another little girl. A girl like you.” 

“Oh, no,” she shook her head, “I have imaginary friends like me.” 

“But no real ones? Don’t you get lonely?”

“Uh-huh,” she nodded, “But it’s okay.” 

Sharon didn’t think it was okay at all, but she kept her mouth shut after that. It wasn’t like she could do anything.

 

Natasha had been right. Wanda was quiet. Almost eerily quiet. She didn’t really say much unless Sharon talked to her first, and even then, she whispered things and looked everywhere but her face. 

“She’s shy, Carter,” Sharon told herself over and over again while Wanda was half falling asleep next to her bed, “It’s not you. She doesn’t hate you. That’s just her personality.“

“Sharon?”

It was the first time that whole day that she had heard the girl address her on her own. Sharon whipped around, “What is it?” 

“Can you go out?” she was curled up now, with her knees to her chest, facing away from her.

“What? No, honey, I can’t just leave you without supervision. What’s wrong?”

“I just need to fix it alone!” she was sobbing again, “Please go.”

Sharon put a hand on her shoulder, “What are you talking about? Are you sick? Look at me, Wanda.” 

“No!” it didn’t sound defiant, just desperate and frightened. Sharon gently turned the girl over on her back and made a small noise of surprise as she saw the wet spot on the front of the girl’s dress, although she tried to cover it up.

“Hey. Hey, it’s okay. It’s fine,” she said in what she hoped was a calm and soothing voice, “Accidents happen, right? It’s not a big deal.” 

“It is!” she sobbed, “It keeps happening all the time now! It didn’t used to! Please don’t tell anyone, please!”

“Well, I have to tell your mom and dad.” 

“You can’t!” Wanda buried her face in her hands, “What if they’re angry?”

“They will not be angry,” Sharon said firmly, “Absolutely not. Come on, sweetie, I’ll find you something else to wear. Don’t cry, it’s okay.” 

Before either one of them could do anything else, Sharon heard the door open. Wanda immediately burst into a torrent of sobs again, “Don’t tell them!”

“Shhh. Just wait here,” Sharon got up and ran to the front door, where Steve, Natasha, Sam and Bucky were all hanging up jackets. She wrung her hands together, “Hey.” 

“How is she?” Natasha asked worriedly, “Where is she? Is she okay?” 

“Not…really. I mean, first she screamed and cried. Then we were okay for a little while. And now…well, she wet herself and now she’s hysterically sobbing because she think you’ll hate her.”

“Oh, God,” Natasha shut the closet door and ran into the other room while Steve rubbed his forehead.

“It’s been happening more and more lately,” he said, “It tends to happen more when she’s scared or stressed out. And she has been ever since the war. The trauma doesn’t help either. Usually, it’s just at night, but now it’s been happening in the day more and…fuck, I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, some form of protection wouldn’t be a bad idea.” 

“She’d be so upset. We already brought it up to her and she started crying.”

“That doesn’t surprise me,” she shrugged, “But it might be the best option.” 

“I’ll talk to her and Nat about it again,” he said tiredly, “Thank you so much, Sharon. How much do I owe you?”

“You don’t,” she patted his shoulder before she grabbed her purse and walked out the door, “Let me know how she’s doing, yeah? She’s a cute kid.” 

 

Wanda ran straight into Natasha’s arms, crying out, “Mommy!” before she seemed to realize that Sharon had probably told her and that it was visible anyway. After that, she immediately pulled away before Natasha wrapped her up in a hug, “Baby girl, It’s okay. Mommy isn’t mad. I could never ever hate you.” 

“But I’m a bad girl,” she sobbed, “I know I am!”

“No, малютка. You are not a bad girl. Shhh,” she murmured, “Everything is fine, I’ve got you. Let’s get you cleaned up and down for a nap, okay?”

“You stay?” she asked anxiously.

“Of course I will,” Natasha said soothingly, “I could use a rest after that meeting.” She was beyond relieved that they hadn’t brought Wanda after all the “suggestions” Ross had made on how to control her.

Wanda was limp when Natasha bathed her. She looked down, letting her long, brown hair cover her face as she closed her eyes, “M’tired, Mommy.” 

“I know, princess. I know,” she murmured taking both her hands so she could help her out and wrap her in a towel, “You’re all done. Did you have fun with Sharon?”

Wanda sucked her thumb and rocked back and forth on her heels, “She’s nice.” 

“She really seemed to like you.” 

“Really?” the girl looked ridiculously relieved, “Good.” 

Natasha kissed Wanda’s forehead before she dried her off, got her dressed and set her on her bed. She pulled her close to her chest when she got in next to her, humming softly.

“Mommy?” Wanda spoke nervously, “I’m sorry I was a bad girl.” 

“You were _not_ a bad girl, do you understand me?” Natasha looked down to meet her eyes, “You are never a bad girl. Mommy and Daddy will never be upset with you over an accident, I promise. But that being said…” she took a deep breath, “We do need to talk about it.” 

She hid her face in her arms, “I can’t.” 

“Baby girl, I know it’s hard. I just don’t think it would be a bad thing to give you some protection for it right now.”

“Mommy, I can’t!” Wanda started sobbing again, “I will never, ever do it again, I promise!”

“It doesn’t have to be forever,“ she whispered, stroking her hair gently, “I just think that you’ve been so stressed out and scared lately that a lot of things are becoming harder for you-and I want to make it easier. I know this is going to be different, but I really do think it’s for the best. Nobody will make you feel bad about it, I promise.” 

“I do feel bad!”

Natasha opened her mouth, then shut it again. There was no way to make the situation better, nothing she could do to just magically make the problem go away overnight, no matter how much she wanted to take her babys' hurt away. 

“I’m so sorry,” her voice cracked slightly, “I wish I could just fix it all for you, Wanda. It’s not fair, I know it’s not fair.”

Wanda shook her head, still crying quietly, “S’okay. It isn’t your fault.”

“You know that we probably have to do this, sweetie.” 

Wanda didn’t say anything, but the fact that she wasn’t arguing caused Natasha to figure she had given up on fighting it. She reached over to grab Lorna and hugged her close before reaching up to touch Natasha’s hair, “I love you, Mommy.”

“I love you too, princess,” she whispered, rubbing her back, “I love you too. We’ll get through this.”

“Do people have to know?”

She bit her lip, “Well, some people might have to. Sam and Bucky, whoever babysits you. But I promise we don’t have to say anything for the most part. And nobody’s going to make you feel bad about it, because you have nothing to feel bad about. Okay?”

Wanda still stayed quiet. Natasha kicked herself over being grateful for the fact that utter silence was better than the tears. 

 

 

Steve got what they needed that night and dressed her the next morning 

Wanda did her best to hold it together, but broke down crying right after he put it on. 

She knew they were right, she did need it, but the reality of it was even more terrifying than she had imagined.

“Sweetheart,” Steve sat her up so he could hold her against his chest and rock her, “Shhh. It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Wanda didn’t respond, not even with an, _“it’s not okay!”_ She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder trying to let herself be soothed by the gentle movement. 

“Wanda, I love you so much,” Steve whispered, “I promise, it’s going to be okay. Nobody’s even going to be able to tell.” 

That made her pause, “Really?”

“Really. You wear skirts and dresses all the time, there’s no way.” 

The whole thing was still horrible, but Wanda was slightly comforted by that thought. She calmed down enough to let Steve put her skirt on and do her hair before she ran to the mirror in the corner of her room to look at herself. 

He was right. You couldn’t tell. It wasn’t too bad.

“See?” Steve kissed the top of her head, “Nothing to worry about. Come on, I’ll watch TV with you.” 

Wanda rocked back and forth on her heels as she sucked her thumb, “Nobody knows?”

“Nobody that doesn’t have to,” he said, picking her up and setting her on his hip, “I promise, baby girl, you’ll be just fine.” 


End file.
